Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 35 / Thursday, February 22, 2007 / Notices 8009 

criteria of the regulations. The FD finds 

that this material did not provide any 

evidence or arguments not already 

discussed in the PF, and did not merit 

a change in the evaluation under 

criterion 83.7(c) that the Mashpee 

demonstrated political influence from 

first historical contact to the present. 

Therefore, the petitioner meets the 

requirements of criterion 83.7(c). 

The PF found that the petitioner met 

the requirements of criterion 83.7(d) by 

submitting its present governing 

document: a constitution dated 

September 28, 2004, which described 

the group’s membership criteria and the 

current governing procedures. For the 

FD, the petitioner submitted a 

membership enrollment ordinance 

dated September 21, 2006, which 

clarifies certain sections of the 

constitution and provides additional 

evidence concerning the group’s 

membership criteria. The FD affirms the 

PF’s conclusion that the petitioner 

meets the requirements of criterion 

83.7(d). 

Criterion 83.7(e) requires that the 

petitioner’s membership consist of 

individuals who descend from a 

historical Indian tribe or from historical 

Indian tribes that combined and 

functioned as a single autonomous 

political entity. The PF found that 88 

percent of the petitioning group 

descended from the historical tribe and 

met the requirement for criterion 

83.7(e). The PF advised the petitioner to 

submit evidence to document descent 

for the remaining 12 percent and to 

update its membership list. 

In response, the MWT submitted a 

properly certified membership list dated 

September 13, 2006, naming 1,453 

members. The petitioner provided 

evidence acceptable to the Secretary 

demonstrating that about 97 percent of 

its members (1,403 of 1,453) descend 

from the historical Mashpee tribe as 

defined by the 1861 Earle Report. About 

2 percent (41 members) descend from 

the two Christiantown Wampanoag 

Indian families, Peters-DeGrasse and 

Peters-Palmer, who did not document 

descent from the historical tribe as 

defined in the Earle Report, but who are 

defined as qualifying ancestors in the 

MWT constitution. One of these families 

settled in Mashpee shortly after 1861 

and became part of the group by the 

early 1900’s. Descendants of both 

families became part of Mashpee 

community socially and politically by 

the mid-20th century. Nine remaining 

members (about 1 percent), do not have 

complete birth records naming parents, 

but are expected to be able to provide 

the proper evidence. 

The new evidence for the FD modifies 

the PF’s conclusions by changing the 

number of members in the MWT from 

1,462 to 1,453 and the percentage of 

members who have documented descent 

from the historical tribe from about 88 

percent to approximately 97 percent. 

The evaluation of additional 

documentation submitted strengthens 

the conclusion that the Mashpee 

petitioner meets the requirements of 

criterion 83.7(e). This FD concludes that 

the evidence is sufficient to meet the 

requirements of criterion 83.7(e). 

Criterion 83.7(f) requires that the 

membership of the petitioning group be 

composed principally of persons who 

are not members of any acknowledged 

North American Indian tribe. A review 

of the available documentation for the 

PF and the FD revealed that the 

membership is composed principally of 

persons who are not members of any 

acknowledged North American Indian 

tribe. Therefore, the petitioner meets the 

requirements of criterion 83.7(f). 

Criterion 83.7(g) requires that neither 

the petitioner nor its members be the 

subject of congressional legislation that 

has expressly terminated or forbidden 

the Federal relationship. A review of the 

available documentation for the PF and 

the FD showed no evidence that the 

petitioning group was the subject of 

congressional legislation to terminate or 

prohibit a Federal relationship as an 

Indian tribe. Therefore, the petitioner 

meets the requirements of criterion 

83.7(g). 

A report summarizing the evidence, 

reasoning, and analyses that are the 

bases for the FD will be provided to the 

petitioner and interested parties, and is 

available to other parties upon written 

request. 

After the publication of notice of the 

FD, the petitioner or any interested 

party may file a request for 

reconsideration with the Interior Board 

of Indian Appeals (IBIA) under the 

procedures set forth in section 83.11 of 

the regulations. The IBIA must receive 

this request no later than 90 days after 

the publication of the FD in the Federal 

Register. The FD will become effective 

as provided in the regulations 90 days 

from the Federal Register publication 

unless a request for reconsideration is 

received within that time. 

Dated: February 15, 2007. 

James E. Cason, 

Associate Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E7–2966 Filed 2–21–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–G1–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Issuance of Two Permits for Incidental 

Take of a Threatened Species to the 

Cedar City Corporation and the Paiute 

Indian Tribe in Iron County, UT 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit. 

SUMMARY: This document provides 

notice that we, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, issued two permits for 

the incidental take of the Utah prairie 

dog, a threatened species, on the Cedar 

Ridge Golf Course and the Paiute Tribal 

Lands in Iron County, Utah. 

ADDRESSES: Documents and other 

information submitted with the permit 

application are available for review, 

subject to the requirements of the 

Privacy Act and Freedom of Information 

Act, from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Utah Ecological Services Field 

Office, Fish and Wildlife Service, 2369 

W. Orton Circle, Suite 50, West Valley 

City, Utah 84119. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Elise Boeke, Fish and Wildlife Biologist, 

Utah Field Office (see ADDRESSES), 

telephone (801) 975–3330. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 

15, 2006, we published a notice in the 

Federal Register (71 FR 28048) 

announcing that we had received an 

application from the Cedar City 

Corporation and the Paiute Indian Tribe 

(Applicants), for permits to incidentally 

take, under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) (Act), 

the Utah prairie dog on the Cedar Ridge 

Golf Course and the Paiute Tribal Lands 

in Iron County, Utah. 

On January 5, 2007, we issued permits 

(TE–125039–0, TE–143347–0) to the 

Applicants subject to certain conditions, 

which we listed on the permit. We 

issued the permits only after we 

determined that—(1) The Applicants 

applied in good faith, (2) granting the 

permits will not be to the disadvantage 

of the Utah prairie dog, and (3) issuing 

the permits will be consistent with the 

purposes and policy set forth in the Act. 

Authority: The action is authorized by the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended 

(16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

Dated: January 5, 2007. 

Mike Stempel, 

Acting Regional Director, Region 6. 

[FR Doc. E7–2981 Filed 2–21–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 


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